Sheboygan South's football team is entering territory it hasn't been in for a long time now.

First-year coach territory.

Scott Rice is bringing two years of coaching experience at the college level — not to mention the years coaching other high schools in Wisconsin before that — into his debut season on the Redwings' sideline this fall. He's replacing Chris Hein, who coached South for nearly a decade before stepping down after last year.

He'll have some strong talent to work with — especially in Boris Ristivojevic, who's already been mentioned for a state running back award before the season has even started — but will have to contend with an always-loaded Fox River Classic Conference.

"We're first trying to just get guys to learn our systems and to be able to understand practice tempo and be able to understand assignment and be able to play football," he said during one of his first practices with the team earlier this month. "So it's baby steps right now."

A few of his more veteran players say they've appreciated the perspective that the former college-level coach has brought to practices. Rice was an assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point the last two years. Prior to that, he'd held head coaching posts at McFarland and Watertown high schools.

"We've used most of his college setups to help us out from Stevens Point," said senior Cody Zimmerman. "He's got that experience to help us out and he knows from the next level what's good for us to help us be a better player."

Sheboygan South Coach Scott Rice

"Knows what he's talking about and he's a really good leader. We all like him," Ristivojevic said.

South hasn't made it to the playoffs since 2010, and hasn't won a championship in its conference since 2004. Ristivojevic said the team is hoping to make it back to the postseason, and teammate Alex Feudner said the team expects to be competitive this fall.

"We got pretty high expectations," Feudner said. "If we all play well together, and we all do our jobs, I think we can do well this season, so we just got to all keep improving every practice."

Ristivojevic could be one of the Redwings' highest-profile players set to return to the team's offense this season after he rushed for 809 yards and five scores last year. The Wisconsin Sports Network has listed him on a preseason watch list for its Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch Award, given each season to the state's top senior running back.

Still, Rice said there's work to do before anyone can start talking about individual awards.

"I would think Boris would probably be the first one to say it's not really about the individuals," he said. "None of them are going to look very good unless we get our front going, our O-line going. So, you know, instead of talking about who's going to look good or who could look good we just are all focused on everybody getting better."